One of the “MUST HAVE” items on the bike is a charging port. I carry a backup battery in the tank bag as a back up, but the on bike port is essential given the number of things that require a regular zap here and there. My Sena 20, the cell phone, the gps, the gopros, and even my BadElf GPS receiver all need to be charged.
In choosing the handlebar protection, I liked the idea that HBD had for adding on elements with their modular dashes. I’d do that but had already blown all the allotted $$ on other items.
But that gave me an idea.
Instead of clamping it on the handlebar which was already getting crowded, what if I instead put it in the gap above the top clamp and below the instrument gauge?
So I stopped by HomeDepot, picked up a piece of 2″ aluminum bar, cut it at a length of 4 1/2″ and then roughed out what I was thinking.
I drilled a small center hole, then using my drillpress and a step drill bit, made the hole for the charging port I had bought. Speaking of that, it has a metal body and includes a voltmeter built right in.
With the center hole done, I drew out what I was imagining for a contour. Using my angle grinder and a benchtop disk sander I shaped the design out, filed and sanded it smooth.
Next up I painted it with a spare old can of Rustoleum. I would have preferred a little more flat than gloss but it’ll do for now until I do the HDB option.
It mounted up perfectly. I wired the outlet up to the ACC2 behind the headlight, cutting the wires to the proper length and then protecting them all with shrink. My image looks a little off but the bracket is mounted straight and is symmetrical. I had to take the pic from a skewed angle just to avoid a glare I was getting.
With the key on, the voltmeter will show the voltage coming out of the battery, with the motor running it’ll show the current charge rate.
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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